Most people do not know this about me but I was a wrestler in high school. I know, crazy! The only female wrestler, on an all boys team. I actually wasn't half bad either. However, after wrestling season ended, it was a challenge to keep my weight down. I went from 100 lbs to over 130 lbs, which is a lot for someone that is only 5'1". Running out of ideas to get the weight down, someone suggested I should try hot yoga.

I ended up in a Bikram Yoga studio with a few friends and OMFG was it hot, as well as humbling, being in 105 degrees. I remember the instructor wearing a hot pink speedo and yelling at me not to drink water or take a break in class. But I kept going back, daily after school with friends or family members. After a year or so of Bikram, I lost all the weight I had gained.

A few years later, my mom's friend Valerie Landis invited me to a Vinyasa yoga class at Yoga South. Here I am, being humbled once more in a class I could not keep along. Nor did I understand half the poses the instructor Judy Weaver was saying. But, the next day I felt incredible. Sore but full of energy. I started attending classes daily at Yoga South; It was my new home! I would take James Kigar's class at noon between college classes and then go back again for the evening class at night. I was hooked for about 3 years.

For some reason, I decided to get into other sports as well as activities and lost my yoga practice for over 2 years. WTF!? How? Why? What happened? I will leave that story for another time. But the good news was that I ended up stepping on my mat again. It was Leslie Glickman's class at Yoga Journey that made me decide that I would never not have a yoga practice again! There is something magical that happens on the mat. I can't seem to explain it to you. That would be like explaining the feeling you get at Coachella! You need to experience it yourself!

When I decided I wanted to look into getting certified, I was just doing it to learn more; not to teach. Corbin Stacy of Yoga hOMe said he would sponsor me because he said he saw something special in me. However, I had zero interest in actually teaching then.

Fast forward to the day of my final teaching exam. My teacher Leslie asked me if I would become one of her teachers at Yoga Journey.



The biggest lesson I have learned is to not pass up an opportunity if its in front of you. Life challenges and shifts you in different directions to live YOUR journey. Thanks to everyone who has been apart of mine. #followyourdreams #myyogalovestory